University of Minnesota Athletics
GOPHERS LOOK TO CONTINUE WINNING WAYS AT NORTHWESTERN ON FRIDAY
1/13/1999 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
STARTING LINEUP - Kim Bell (Minneapolis, MN/Washburn) started her first game as a collegian Sunday at Michigan and responded with four points and a career- high six rebounds in 17 minutes. Brandi Harris (Long Beach, Calif./Cowley County CC) and Swantreca Taylor (Donaldsville, La./Como Park HS) have started the last four games for Minnesota. Harris has led the Gophers in scoring in two of those four games. The other two Minnesota starters are Sonja Robinson (Scottsdale, Ariz./Chapparal), who has started all 15 games for Minnesota, and Erin Olson (Mitchell, S.D./Mitchell), who has started the last 13 games and leads the Gophers in minutes played.
HEAD COACH CHERYL LITTLEJOHN - Minnesota head coach Cheryl Littlejohn is in her second season as the Gopher leader and has a 10-32 (.238) record in her two-year collegiate career. Littlejohn served as an assistant coach at Alabama the previous three seasons. She also was an assistant coach at North Carolina State. Littlejohn played at Tennessee under Pat Summitt and won a national championship in three Final Four appearances.
ABOUT NORTHWESTERN - After winning five of their first seven games, the Wildcats have lost four of its last six games and are 7-6 overall. Northwestern won its lone Big Ten game at Indiana 68-66, but has dropped games at home to Michigan State 73-64 and Illinois 74- 55. The Wildcats will play at Purdue on Tuesday before hosting the Gophers.
Kristina Divjak, the Big Ten's leading scorer last season, is out for this season after suffering a knee injury. That leaves the scoring load to senior guard Megan Chawansky (17.1 points per game) and junior forward Leslie Schock (15.7 points per game). The Wildcat offense averages 73.7 points per game, but only 62.3 points per Big Ten game.
Don Perrelli is in his 15th season as Northwestern's head coach and is 246-171 (.590) as the Wildcat mentor. His 23-year collegiate record is 421- 242 (.635).
THE SERIES - Northwestern leads the series, 27-9. The Wildcats won the only meeting of last season 84-65 on Jan. 18, 1998, in Evanston. Theresa LeCuyer (Anoka, Minn./Anoka) led Minnesota with 17 points. Northwestern has won the last five meetings and the last 15 meetings in Evanston. The last Minnesota win in Evanston was Jan. 30, 1982, as the Gophers took a 71-63 decision.
ABOUT INDIANA - The Hoosiers broke a four-game Big Ten losing streak Sunday, defeating Wisconsin 69-65 at Assembly Hall. After winning 11 of its 14 non- conference games, Indiana lost its first four Big Ten games. The Hoosiers lost at home to Michigan (72-56) and Northwestern (68-66), and on the road at Illinois (96-65) and Iowa (77-76). Indiana will host Ohio State on Friday before travelling to the Twin Cities on Sunday.
Cindy Kerns is one of four Indiana players scoring in double figures, averaging 14.5 points per game. She is also the Hoosiers' leading rebounder at 7.5 rebounds per game. Jill Chapman is second on both lists in scoring (13.1 points per game) and rebounding (6.9 points per game). Chapman had 23 points and nine rebounds in Indiana's win over Wisconsin.
Jim Izard is in his 11th season as the Hoosier coach and he has a record at Indiana of 177-130 (.577). His 18-year career record is 340-179 (.655).
THE SERIES - Minnesota leads the series, 18-17. Indiana won both meetings last season, defeating the Gophers 84-75 at the Sports Pavilion on Jan. 2, 1998, and 75-42 at Bloomington on Feb. 15, 1998. The Hoosiers have won the last five meetings and has not lost in the Twin Cities since 1994.
GOPHER REWIND: MICHIGAN - Minnesota held off a late Michigan rally to win 54-47 and break a five-game losing streak against the Wolverines. The Gophers used runs of 13-2 and 11-0 to build a 28-12 lead with 6:04 to play in the first half. Michigan whittled away at the lead, but could get no closer than three points in the final minute. Minnesota made six consecutive free throws in the final 50 seconds. The Gophers held Michigan well under its 78.5 points per game average. It was the fewest points allowed by Minnesota since Feb. 10, 1995 (Minnesota 92, Illinois 46).
GOPHER REWIND: IOWA - The Hawkeyes led from start to finish against the Gophers, scoring the game's first 12 points and holding on for a 66-58 decision. Minnesota pulled to within seven points in the last five minutes, but could not get any closer. Minnesota's shooting was as frigid as the Twin Cities' weather, as the Gophers made 22.6 percent of their shots in the first half and 31.7 percent in the game. Brandi Harris led Minnesota scorers with 12 points, including 7-for-8 from the foul line.
BIG TEN STANDINGS Conf. Home Road Overall Ohio State 4-0 2-0 2-0 11-3 Purdue 3-0 2-0 1-0 11-1 Illinois 4-2 3-0 1-2 10-6 Michigan State 2-1 1-1 1-0 8-5 Iowa 3-2 2-1 1-1 8-7 Michigan 1-2 0-1 1-1 9-4 Penn State 1-2 0-1 1-1 9-4 Northwestern 1-2 0-2 1-0 7-6 Wisconsin 2-4 2-0 0-4 7-8 Indiana 1-4 1-2 0-2 12-7 MINNESOTA 1-4 0-2 1-2 6-9 BIG TEN UPDATE - Ohio State and Purdue are the lone unbeatens with six weeks to go in the Big Ten race. The Buckeyes are the only team in the conference with two road wins and will travel to Indiana and Northwestern this weekend. Purdue won two squeakers last week and will host Northwestern on Tuesday and Michigan State on Friday. Illinois is the current third-place team, and they will rest until Monday, Jan. 18, when they will host Purdue. The home team is 13-10 (.565) after 23 Big Ten games.
ROBINSON CONTINUES TO LEAD - The hardest-working frontcourt player in America continues to lead Minnesota in both scoring and rebounding. Sonja Robinson is 5-11, and normally starts against players that are considerably taller than she is. That has not stopped her from compiling some impressive numbers for the Gophers. Robinson leads Minnesota in scoring at 11.0 points per game and rebounding at 7.5 rebounds per game. In the Big Ten at Wisconsin, Robinson earned her first double-double of the season, scoring 14 points and pulled down 11 rebounds. She has established new career highs in a season with 165 points and 112 rebounds. Robinson has scored 10 or more points nine times and has led or shared the lead in Gopher scoring six times. She has three of Minnesota's four double- figure rebounding efforts this season.
OLSON CONTINUES TO BE STEADY - Erin Olson continues to be a steady influence at the point guard position for the Gophers. Olson is leading the Gophers in several categories, including minutes (35.1 per game), three- point percentage (.500), free-throw percentage (.778), assists (57) and steals (24). Minnesota's fourth- leading scorer (7.7 points per game) is second on the team with 54 defensive rebounds and eight blocked shots.
VANDERHEYDEN VERBAGE - Minnesota has a bench player leading the Gophers in scoring for the Big Ten season. First-year guard Cassie VanderHeyden is averaging 13.2 points per game, helped by her team-leading 15 three- pointers. VanderHeyden established career highs with 21 points and six triples in the loss at Wisconsin. VanderHeyden has made at least one triple in 13 consecutive games and 14 of Minnesota's 15 contests this season. VanderHeyden has 33 of Minnesota's 64 trifectas this season, and her .311 percentage behind the arc ranks seventh among Big Ten players. VanderHeyden needs 10 three-pointers to move into Minnesota's all-time single season top five.
DEE-FENSE, DEE-FENSE - Minnesota has a promotion for home games that if the Gophers hold their opponents to under 65 points, 65 of the lucky fans in the stands receive X-65 T-shirts from the Gopher players. If the first 15 games are any indication, the T-shirt manufacturing plant had better get busy. Minnesota has held its opponents under 65 points for nine of the 15 games this season. Four of Minnesota's five Big Ten opponents have exceeded 65 points, but all five teams were held under their season scoring average. The Gophers' defensive average of 63.5 points is nearly nine points better than last year's average and ranks fifth in the Big Ten Conference.
BENCH STRENGTH - Minnesota's bench has been a source of strength this season, outscoring its opponents in 12 of 15 games. Last week, Minnesota's bench had superior production in both games, outscoring the Iowa bench 25- 13 and the Michigan bench 37-10. For the season, Minnesota's bench has an advantage of 373-254, an 7.3 point-per-game surplus from the bench.
BONUS CANTOS - This year's Gopher squad has played two overtime games, matching the school record for most overtime games in a season. Minnesota is 1-1 in overtime games, losing 62-53 against nationally ranked Kansas in Hawaii, and winning 68-64 against South Florida. The Gophers have played 15 overtime games in school history, winning 11. Minnesota broke a three- game losing streak in overtime games with the win at South Florida.
WHAT'S NEXT - Minnesota returns to the road next weekend for its next-to-last road trip of the regular season. The Gophers will play at Michigan State on Friday, Jan. 22 at 7 p.m. (EST), and at Ohio State on Sunday, Jan. 24 at 2 p.m. (EST). After the trip to East Lansing and Columbus, Minnesota will play five of its last seven regular season games at the Sports Pavilion.
